This invention relates generally to shirt sleeve pressing machines and more particularly to a shirt sleeve pressing machine which includes a novel pneumatically operated cuff-clamping device.
Machines for pressing the sleeves of a shirt are commercially available such as the cabinet style bag sleever Model CSL which has been manufactured and sold by the assignee of this invention, Hoffman/New Yorker, Inc. Those machines generally include a pair of laterally spaced vertically extending sleeve bucks on which are mounted inflatable air bags. At the upper end of each of the bucks is a manually operated T-clamp for holding the cuffs of the shirt in place during a pressing operation. To press the sleeves, at an accessible loading station, an operator passes the shoulders of the shirt over the cuff clamps and the shirt is fully extended downwardly with the sleeves over the bucks. The cuffs of the shirt are positioned under the open T-clamps and the clamps are then manually closed to lock the cuffs in place. Low pressure is then supplied to the air bags to remove wrinkles from the sleeves and to tension the sleeves. The bucks are then moved from the loading station to a pressing station within a pressing cabinet and moveable pressing arms and steam are then applied against the sleeves and buck for a predetermined period of time under the control of a timer. Upon completion of the timed cycle, the bucks are returned from the pressing cabinet to the loading station and, upon movement out of the cabinet, the clamps are automatically opened thereby releasing the cuffs. The sleeves and the shirt are then removed upwardly from the bucks. This is the manner in which the Model CSL machine is operated.
While the CSL machine has enjoyed substantial commercial success, applicants have recognized the need to improve the construction and operation of the cuff clamping devices and the invention as described below was developed to satisfy that need.
The primary object of this invention is to provide a novel shirt sleeve pressing machine in which the cuff clamping devices at the top of the sleeve bucks are pneumatically operated, preferably by foot operated valves, to open and close the clamps while loading and unloading the shirt cuffs. Such an operation has been found to be much more efficient and time saving as opposed to the manually operated clamp design which has been commonly used in prior commercial machines.
Another object of this invention is to provide the above described novel shirt sleeve pressing machine in which the pneumatically operated cuff clamping devices include a clamp head or block, a small pneumatic cylinder mounted within the block and having a reciprocating piston extending perpendicularly outwardly from an inside vertical clamp face of said block and connected to a T-clamp for reciprocating the clamp in straight line motion toward and away from the inside face of the block. The piston is spring loaded to maintain the T-clamp in a normally open position and the application of air pressure to the cylinder closes the T-clamp to hold the cuffs of the shirts in place against the clamp face of the block.
Still another object of the invention is to provide the novel shirt sleeve pressing machine described above in which the pneumatically operated cuff clamp assemblies are actuated by foot operated valves mounted at the floor of the machine so as to free the hands of the operator and enable the operator to properly position the shirt and cuffs on the bucks and to press other operating buttons on the machine thereby saving time and rendering the overall operation more efficient.
A further object of the invention is to provide the above novel shirt sleeve pressing machine with a shirt hold down device positioned between the two laterally spaced bucks and operable to push down on the collar area of the shirt and thereby further tension the sleeves during the pressing operation.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a novel buck and cuff clamp assembly including associated pneumatic control components which may be quickly and easily retrofitted to existing commercial machines containing manually operated cuff clamp assemblies.
These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from reading the following detailed description of the invention in which reference is made to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numerals indicate like elements.